Harrison Bader gets a cup full of water from Bruce Caldwell (8) after his home run in the 7th inning during the Springfield Cardinals 8-1 win over the Northwest Arkansas Naturals on Wednesday, Apr. 27, 2016 at Hammons Field. (Photo: Andrew Jansen/News-Leader)Buy Photo

Ask Springfield Cardinals center fielder Harrison Bader where he comes down on the hot-button issue of bat flips, and you’ll get a laugh before he answers.

It has been a thing of late, when hitters toss their bats in the air, usually with a flourish, after hitting what is a no-doubt home run. If often results in posturing and, in extreme cases, brush-back pitches and skirmishes later on.

Bader has never been involved in the bench-clearing nonsense, but bat flips? Well ...

“I’ve had my share of bat flips, at times too much,” he admitted.

It’s an answer that begs for some elaboration, so he gives it without prodding.

“If you get a pitch — and it doesn’t happen often — and you do a lot of damage with it, you don’t want to show anybody up, but to get a little something here and there, I don’t think it’s the end of the world,” he continued.

“You always want to have respect. That’s the most important thing, to show respect to other players. As long as you keep it within those boundaries, I think you’re good.”

Bader has had plenty of opportunities to put up a bat flip or two in his rookie season in Double-A.

The former University of Florida star has been a fixture in center field and in the leadoff spot for the Springfield Cardinals since Opening Day.

Harrison Bader(Photo: SPRINGFIELD CARDINALS)

He was leading all of Double-A in batting average for much of the early portion of the season, and he goes into Tuesday night’s homestand opener against Arkansas with an impressive stat line.

In 53 games, he’s hitting .313 with 66 hits, 13 home runs and 29 RBIs. Plus he has shown an ability to play a stellar center field, with range far into left-center and right-center field.

Bader has 17 multi-hit games, including two or more hits in each of his first five games, when he was 11-for-25 (.440).

He later had a 17-game hitting streak, during which time he had a 4-for-5, three-RBI game; a 4-for-5, two-RBI game; and a 4-for-5, two-home run outing.

Bader had a .388 average in early May, and was at .379 in the middle of May. That performance had Cardinals’ fans taking notice and salivating over the thought of the hitting machine eventually (soon?) patrolling center field in Busch Stadium.

He’s a lock for a spot on the North Division roster for the Texas League All-Star Game, which is scheduled for June 28 at Hammons Field.

Not bad for a 6-foot, 195-pound player who just turned 22 years old last week.

But not good enough, as far as he’s concerned.

“The numbers are what they are, but I look past that,” Bader said. “I have a ton of stuff to work on. I realize that and work on it every day.

“As a young player, I’m working to be a sponge, learning from my coaches and other players, just working to limit those dips as much as possible.”

Funny thing is, Springfield manager Dann Bilardello used the same word — sponge — when talking about what makes Bader such a tremendous young talent.

“He’ll listen to what’s going on and take advice,” Bilardello said. “He makes a mistake and you help him out, whether it’s defensively or offensively, he’s a sponge about stuff.

“He’s got a maturity about him that lets him handle things.”

That maturity is something you may not expect out of him, considering both his age and his relative inexperience in professional baseball.

Bader was a third-round draft pick just last June, and had to delay his Cardinals debut because his Florida Gators were in the College World Series. After a short-season pit stop in State College (Pa.), he played the final 54 games with Low-A Peoria (Ill.) of the Midwest League.

He hit .301 with nine homers and 28 RBIs in Peoria, then joined Peoria teammate and roommate Paul DeJong in skipping High-A entirely, opening 2016 in Springfield. This is a path that has historically worked out for St. Louis Cardinals fans — Kolten Wong, Matt Adams and Oscar Taveras did the same thing before reaching the big leagues.

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Harrison Bader stands at third during the Springfield Cardinals 8-1 win over the Northwest Arkansas Naturals on Wednesday, Apr. 27, 2016 at Hammons Field.(Photo: Andrew Jansen/News-Leader)

You could make the case that playing at a big-time, marquee program like Florida helped make the jump an easier one for Bader.

Bilardello has another theory.

“What helps is being really good,” the second-year Springfield skipper said. “If you’re good, it doesn’t matter what stage you play on.

“I’m not saying it doesn’t help to play at a big-time college program, but ... he’s got some really good talent, and that usually helps.”

Conventional wisdom has it that Bader will spend all of this season in Springfield, then get his shot at Triple-A Memphis and the big leagues in 2017.

But in a recent Baseball America interview, St. Louis general manager John Mozeliak admitted there may a change in plans.

“I think we’ll be forced to make a tough decision in the second half of the season with what we do,” Mozeliak said. “He’s obviously having a lot of success at the plate. He’s doing well defensively. He’s an interesting player in the sense that he oozes confidence.”

Bader played three seasons with the Gators, leading the team in hitting as a freshman (.312) and sophomore (.337), and as a junior he hit .292 with 15 homers and 61 RBIs.

Florida reached the College World Series last season, and Bader provided one of the highlights, hitting a monster home run to center field in his first at-bat in Omaha. He hit .348 in the Gators’ five games at the CWS.

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Harrison Bader takes off from second during the Springfield Cardinals 8-1 win over the Northwest Arkansas Naturals on Wednesday, Apr. 27, 2016 at Hammons Field. (Photo: Andrew Jansen/News-Leader)

After that, he quickly signed — landing a reported $400,000 signing bonus — and started his pro career.

Many players in his shoes would have made a big “splurge” purchase as soon as the bonus check cleared into his bank account.

Not Bader. Which surely made his parents happy — his father is an attorney and his mother worked in advertising at Sports Illustrated.

“I didn’t have any foolish expenditures,” he said. “I came from a pretty well-off family, so I was very fortunate. I was raised to understand the value of a dollar. I haven’t splurged for anything.

“Just put your money away and go out and play some baseball. That’s the way I was brought up. It’s good to know I am firmly grounded in that sense.”

When it comes to Florida baseball history, some may expect the number of eventual big-league superstars to be greater. As is, probably the most decorated Florida alum is probably David Eckstein, hero of the St. Louis Cardinals’ 2006 World Series champions.

Based on Bader’s trajectory, how long would it take for him to be the best player in Florida baseball history?

“Well, my three years there were good,” Bader said. “I had a lot of success. If I could go back and put up some more numbers, maybe I could make a claim for that.

“I don’t think I qualify as the best, but hopefully I’ve got a seat at the table somewhere up there.”

There’s no telling how long Bader will be here in Double-A, and what the time frame will end up being for his procession through the Cards’ minor-league system.

It’s clear, though, that he’s worth watching. It’s easy to see why when you watch him play and see the numbers he has put up.

The intangibles are just as impressive. He gets wide-eyed when he talks about growing up in the New York City area as a Yankees fan, looking at players like Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams like they were Gods.

He obviously wants to make a similar impact on young fans.

“The kids are everything,” Bader said. “I want to be a model for those little kids.

“When you’re walking out for the game or you’re preparing for the game, and you see a kid calling for you, and he knows you by your first name and your number, it’s awesome. You want to perform and you want to make him happy. It’s very cool.”